john major

poll tax

Major scrapped the poll tax by cutting bills 50% (1990–91) and asking Michael Heseltine to design a replacement; the new council tax restored a link to property value, included exemptions for single occupants, was far less unpopular, but abandoned Thatcher’s principle that all taxpayers should share local government costs equally.

privatisation and the public secotr

• Major continued Thatcher’s privatisation: sold remaining electricity companies (1991–95) and privatised British Rail (1992).

• Thatcher had already created a consensus that the state shouldn’t run telecoms, airlines, steel, car plants, or mines.

• Public were less supportive of privatising natural monopolies (water, gas, electricity, rail).

• Problems followed: water bills rose 40% in 5 years; CEOs took multi‑million bonuses despite poor service.

• Privatisation permanently reduced public ownership but did not always cut state spending because subsidies continued.

economic and soical policies

• Major continued Thatcherite economics: prioritised growth + low inflation, used free‑market mechanisms, and abolished the corporatist National Economic Development Council in 1992.

• Major kept commitment to a universal NHS and implemented the 1990 NHS and Community Care Act, creating an internal market to increase efficiency and responsiveness.

• Major introduced the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) in 1992: private companies built and ran schools/hospitals in return for government payments; contracts were lucrative and competition intense.

• PFI reflected the belief that the private sector was more efficient, and outsourcing public services would benefit taxpayers and service users.

• Law and order became tougher: the 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act targeted raves, limited the right to silence, and criminalised squatting and unauthorised camping.

• The prison population continued to rise under Major.

social conservatism

• Speech was interpreted as defending heterosexual monogamous marriage during debates about single mothers.

• The campaign collapsed due to a series of Conservative scandals that contradicted its message.

problems of thatcehrism

• Thatcher had blamed Britain’s issues on socialism and a “dependency culture”; Major could not use that argument.

• Major had to deal with privatisation problems: rising utility bills and rail fares.

• He also inherited long‑term unemployment and low public‑sector pay.

• A recession caused by a Conservative chancellor added to his difficulties.

• Major lacked a clear “enemy” or scapegoat; the party would not let him openly criticise Thatcher (except over the poll tax).

• As a result, Major’s message was very different from Thatcher’s: he could not claim to be fighting socialism, only managing the consequences of her policies.